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Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center Scientist 3D Prints Living Tissue

An ear that has been 3D printed using a patient's cells as the printing material. Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Institute For Regenerative Medicine.

3D printing technology has been used to make toys, auto parts, and other goods.  Now it's ears.

Scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have had a breakthrough in how they make human tissue. They're using 3D printing to build tissues and organs for patients in need.

Dr. Anthony Atala is the director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine and senior author on the study. He says the technology uses a patient's own cells as printing material, which eliminates rejection and deflects ethical concerns.

“In the current work, we basically printed structures with a wide range of strengths," says Atala. "We printed soft tissue such as muscle, medium-strength tissue such as cartilage which is also elastic, and bone tissue which is really hard. The hope for us is that we continue to apply these technologies to other tissues as well.”

This project was in part funded by the Armed Forces Institute for Regenerative Medicine, in hopes to quickly create tissues for wounded warriors, as well as civilians

 

 

Eddie Garcia is WFDD’s News Director. He is responsible for planning coverage, editing stories, and leading an award-winning news team as it serves the station’s 32-county listening area. He joined WFDD as an audio production intern in 2007 and went on to hold various roles, including producer, Triad Arts Weekend co-host, reporter, and managing editor. When he’s not working, Eddie enjoys spending time with his family, playing guitar, and watching films.

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